THE N W YORKER that he was usually drunk on someone else's money, he managed to carry him- self with shabby dignity, like a down-at- heel militar) man. It did not take much of an expert to see that the fawn pup was the only dog we had who might ever make a racer. Not that he revealed any signs of future greatness (even if he had, we would not have recognized them), but he was the only one of the pack that behaved like a normal dog. He barked; he ran to meet Father when he came home from school, instead of running off in the op- posite direction; he whined when he was locked out; he wagged his tail when he was petted. He was quite a contrast to the languId, padding ghosts the others were Lobster O'Brien assumed the role of trainer, and brought to our house all sorts of seedy-looking men whom be referred to as experts. There was a Dung Doherty, "the wind man," and a Fusiliel Lynch, "the pad man," and a " d o "" . " d " let man, a tIme man, an a pace man," whose names I have forgotten. They certainly did not look very expert, but they talked in a highly technical lan- guage. Many a da} we had two or mòre of them for lunch, and I remember Mother wakening me on one occasion, shortly after I had gone to bed, and ask- ing solemnly, "\V ould you mind moving into our room tonight, darlingr We need your bed for the wind man " The whole routine of the house was soon adjusted to accommodate the ex- perts Activity would start shortly after 6 A.M., when Lobster would arrive from the town to begin the day's train- ing. Father and he would have break- fast together, and then off they would go for a five-mile walk with the pup. They took :\;lother's old bicycle with them, riding in turn, and I can still see them heading out the road toward the moun tain, Father cycling with straight-backed dignity, staring rigidly ahead, and Lobster trotting alongside with the dog. For the first few weeks, they took one of the other dogs along, "to give the pup the feel of things," but the older hounds soon got to know the program and ran off to the fields as soon as Lobster arrived. When the morning run was over, there would be a second breakfast, and Father would go to his school. But by the time Lobster had given the pup a wash and a rub- down, and had massaged his stomach and hind legs, and had examined his ears and fingered his tall ("Many a tail lost a race"), he usually decided that it was not worth hIs while to walk the whole way Into Omagh for his lunch. So we had hIm most of the day. There would I , I ", I t }., iø ^ x f t . It; · ' ! <" I f , f 'fl:Jv' 43 . '- \, " y (. '\ -:.-/ "H ow come 'We have no oil wells or timber to deplete?)) . be another sprint after school, then an- other rubdown, and it was often dark before the trainer and his assistants left. During all this time, I never heard Mother complain. Looking back on it now, I am sure F ather never completely understood the new world in which he found himself. He was, of course, a full participant in the venture, but he was always slightl) mystified b} it. Indeed, had the project not suddenly snowballed into a major operation, I believe he would have dropped it at an early stage. But Lobster maneu vered events with such speed and cunning that Father scarcely had time to consider what was happening. Almost before he knew it, he was the owner of a trained greyhound-a potential cham- pion-already entered by Lobster for the Omagh Stakes, VI hich was to be run in a fortnight's time on the track at the far side of the town. Right up to the day of the race, Father kept assuring him- self of his lofty motives in preparing one of his dogs for a racing career; he be- gan to use expressions like "competitive .." d " I f splnt an natura grace 0 move- ment." He did not waver even dunng the last week, when three of the experts . Were at the house every day and Lob- ster moved into m) bedroom. T HE race took place early on a Monday evening in the first week of June. Lobster had taken the pup to the racecourse earlier in the day to ac- climatize him, and Father and Mother and I followed on foot at six o'clock, about half an hour before the race be- gan. lVe wore our Sunday clothes, which always seemed to impose a re- straint on conversation. But Mother, I knew, was very excited. ..A.s we walked through the town and toward the course, which lay a mile out the Dublin Road, she whispered to me repeatedly, "Now, watch your manners, watch your manners," the way she did when we were going to tea at the Doctor's house. Then, just before we arrived at the field, she turned to Father and asked, "Is It customary to clap after h .. " eac race "Naturally," saId Father, but I could tell that he was guessing. "But only if the contestants have given of theIr best." "I see," she saId, closing her mouth and tiltIng her chin up in a way that in- dicated that, no matter what the races